As the second block of the Super Rygbi Cymru approaches, Gruff Rees has expressed his delight at the Blue & Blacks’ start to the season.
Cardiff currently sit atop of the newly introduced competition with six wins from seven matches.
They return to action against Llandovery at Church Bank on Saturday, before returning to the Arms Park for a clash with Pontypool, in an exciting curtain raiser to Cardiff Rugby versus Dragons RFC in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
Rees has been pleased with what he has seen in the competition, and while topping the table undoubtedly brings some satisfaction, the greater joy is the development of the club’s younger players and exhilarating playing style.
Reflecting on the opening block, Rees said: “People do look at the league table in terms of making judgments but within that is probably the style of rugby we're trying to play. There's alignment to what we're doing at senior level and that's hugely important around the coaching and obviously the player development aspect, which is hugely positive for us.
“If you look at the core of the back line, guys like Sion Davies, Harri Wilde, Steff Emanuel, Elijah Evans, Tom Bowen, Kodie Stone. They're playing well together alongside, what we know works for us really well in terms of developing players, quality semi-pros with the right attitude to support and drive their own performances.
“One of the KPIs in our application process to be in a Super Rygbi Cymru was to reduce the average age and doing that is really important in terms of playing opportunities. But the average age is under 23, and if Jason Harries wasn't there, it'd be significantly lower.
“But you need people like Jason who can be mentors to players on and off the field - what they see, how they react and sometimes just calming the collective down when it does get a bit fraught.
“Having players like that - Jason, Tom Habberfield, Dewi Cross and Dan Fish in the past - is hugely influential in terms of young players seeing how they react to stuff, how they discuss things on the pitch. The messages from the coaches aren’t full on, we want players to solve problems, to work it out between themselves.
“That's crucial for young players to do that. But it does need a little bit of support and the guys on the field can do that.”
With the likes of Tom Bowen and Steff Emanuel training full time with the senior squad and others such as Elijah Evans and Matty Young also enjoying that exposure, game-time and development time is a delicate balancing act.
But it is one Rees believes the club are getting right and the form of the Rags’ young guns is certainly testament to that.
He added: “Looking at their playing plans, it has been exposure around the RFC group. They've played significant minutes but we've also taken them out when we've needed to in terms of protecting them around the training loads with the first team as they're getting some good exposure there.
“But as a collective as well, it's looking at certain metrics - ball in play is important to us. It's not a be-all and end-all because it can give you inaccurate stuff in certain games but as a general we're looking to bridge the gap between Cardiff RFC and where the senior game is, alongside comparing to Wales under 20s etc.
“I’ve been really pleased in terms of the mix of it and the way we've played and tried to express ourselves. Fair play to Dan (Fish) and the coaching group coming together, there is a Cardiff identity to it and that's important to us. We'll tweak different things now as we go into the next block but I think it’s hugely exciting and as we go through the season more young players will get exposed to that program.”
Cardiff RFC take on Pontypool at Cardiff Arms Park in a double-header with Cardiff Rugby vs Dragons on November 30. Purchase your tickets today by clicking here.